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And now for something completely different!

And now for something completely different!. Thomas Kalil tkalil@berkeley.edu CFP 2004 April 22, 2004. Not going to talk about. Linux Apache OpenOffice Mozilla Python MYSQL Etc. Premises. There are some potential IT applications with high social ROI and low private ROI Either:

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And now for something completely different!

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  1. And now for somethingcompletely different! Thomas Kalil tkalil@berkeley.edu CFP 2004 April 22, 2004

  2. Not going to talk about • Linux • Apache • OpenOffice • Mozilla • Python • MYSQL • Etc.

  3. Premises • There are some potential IT applications with high social ROI and low private ROI • Either: • Applications are not provided at all, or • Companies have very limited budgets for research, product development, evaluation, etc – which limits quality and impact • Big potential payoff because of low marginal costs

  4. Premises • We should experiment with different ways to promote creation, evaluation and use of these applications • Might involve government, foundations, social enterprises, companies, consortia … • Open sources licenses and approaches may have a role to play in these experiments

  5. Example: reading software • Goals for reading software • Help ensure that every child can read by the 4th grade • Enable children who are behind 1-2 grades behind to catch up – effective as one-on-one tutor • Fun and easy to use • Rigorous, third-party, experimental evaluation • Current market for K-12 educational software not very attractive

  6. Social payoff from high-quality, low-cost reading software • 38% of 4th graders can’t read and understand a paragraph from children’s book – as high as 70% in inner-cities • 75% of high-school drop-outs report reading difficulties • By middle school – children who read well read 10 million words/year, vs. less than 100K words for children with reading difficulties

  7. Age-Appropriate Books Per Household 199 2.7 0.04

  8. Other possible examples • Software for human rights organizations (e.g. Martus) • Software to thwart state-sponsored censorship and surveillance • Public health information systems that increase childhood immunization rates • K-12 software for math and science education that could increase U.S. performance (currently 18th out of 20th) • Software for adult literacy, GED equivalence

  9. Different approaches for support • Grants for R&D, pilots, evaluation • Large cash prize for software that meets certain specs • Guaranteed purchase for software that meets specs • Support could be linked to requirement for OSS license

  10. Why open source? • Public investment would not be stranded • Multiple companies or organizations could be involved in marketing, distribution, after-sales support • Could allow for both high quality (with public support for R&D) and low-cost (no need for firms to recapture R&D costs) • Potential for re-use across projects • Potential for people to fix bugs, add or suggest new features, etc. • BSD license could allow for proprietary enhancements

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